Melito of Sardis is a key figure in the history of the theological treatment
of body. Firstly, he is one of the first genuine theologians of
Incarnation. Secondly, he has been accused by Origen as having stated that God
is of bodily nature. Thirdly, he has composed a treatise (?) On Body and
Soul. In my paper I attempt at a clarification of the emerging questions on
the basis of available textual evidence. Besides the Paschal homily and the
fragments of Melito, I discuss in detail the Syriac "apology" preserved under
the name of "Melito the philosopher". As far as Origen's statement is concerned,
in my argument I follow the suggestion made by G. Florovsky, who saw in this
debate a preenactment of the late fourth-century "anthropomorphite"
controversy, and this in the sense as being a contest about the question of what
it means for humans to be an image of God. Alexandrian theology insisted that
this can be referred to human intellect alone, while for Irenaeus of Lyons the
image has also a body. Since Irenaeus and Melito are linked in many different
ways, it is hardly surprising the two agree on this point as well. It is also
telling that, by contrast, the Syriac apology of debated authenticity sides with
Alexandrian theology in this issue.
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